elephant

An interesting conversation with a true volunteer from San Diego, a kid of 21 who’s spent about six months in Sri Lanka, in the muck of constructing primary school upgrades, installing taps, gutters, building a community center, fundraising, doing all the unglamorous work in a remote village in Hambantota. A sweet kid, who’s really committed to the cause of education, children and development. We were exchanging stories yesterday of what it was like to work with old Sri Lankan friend. One of the villages he was working in had an elephant problem (where elephants routinely marauded and raided kitchens, school buildings etc. causing havoc for the sake of it). So he rounded up some barbed wire and erected a lamppost around his tiny community center as a makeshift barrier. The next morning he asked a villager whether they still had an elephant problem. Stoically the villager responded ‘ We don’t have an elephant problem anymore”. Friend rejoices. “but the neighbours now have an elephant problem’. Haha.

Also talking about a particular guesthouse in Jaffna, whose proprietor is slightly insane. I had gone there to visit a cousin once and gone up to his room to chat. The next day the proprietor had gone off on my cousin, in tamil, saying that this was not that kind of establishment and that such goings on were a disgrace to Jaffna! This friend had also met the same proprietor (who’s like 70) and had been told off by him: You are a stupid Yankee and an idiot. (slowly, enunciating each word). Friend horrified had refused to eat his food. Proprietor comes up and knocks on the door for 20 minutes saying: I am a diabetic and a heart patient. Please come and eat.

I tell you.